A mere 111 days after their 24th studio album, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard set the scope of their upcoming LP 25 with a three-track suite: Theia, The Silver Cord and Set. While not their first endeavour into electronic music, with Butterfly 3000 and other discography highlights such as Intrasport from 2020’s K.G. perhaps serving as a precursor to these new tracks’ synth centricity, the Australian six piece finds themselves dropping the microtonal guitars and going full Kraftwerk for their first offerings of their latest record. Luke Bower shares his thoughts on their latest single.
Following suit from both their eclectic, genre boundless back catalogue of albums, each as unique as the last, and their ever-changing jam centred live shows, their latest release promises to be a treat for fans that have the patience to delve into their discography, with the extended mix of the record being 88 minutes long. In a statement, multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Stu stated:
“And on the second version, that first song, Theia, is 20 minutes long. It’s the ‘everything’ version – those seven songs you’ve already heard on the first version, but with a whole lot of other sh*t we record while making it. It’s for the Gizz-heads.”
Said album opener Theia sets the stage for Gizzard’s familiar time signature experimentation that they’re known for, with Stu using a more understated vocal tone for the track, a stark contrast from the thunderous throat singing of their June release PetroDragonic Apocalypse. New band set ups and unfamiliar arrangements of drum machines and synthesisers engulf the dream-like lyrical content of the track. Not all is unfamiliar however, as ‘Theia’s entrancing chorus echoes other electronic, underrated Gizzard tracks that have been absent from their live circuit for years, like Cyboogie off of 2019’s Fishing for Fishies. The Silver Cord is Gizzard’s most polarising track in years, which says a lot. Its transcendent back section is at odds with its psychedelic, Kid-A-like vocal passages during its first half, ending in a listen that, whilst certainly intriguing in what it seeks to achieve, never fully lives up to its potential. Set however, sees King Gizzard at their most funky ever, with a track that wouldn’t feel out of place in a European nightclub. Stu’s refrain Slay the Mighty Set might be one their catchiest hooks in their whole discography, culminating in an electro dance track that is impossible not to move to, despite being in 7/4. Whilst Ambrose’s rap passages have felt welcome on Gizzard tracks, specifically in live settings of tracks from Omnium Gatherum, here they feel somewhat out of left field, halting the relentless danceability of the track as a whole.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s experimentation within their music is an expectation from fans at this point, and whilst thrash metal PetroDragonic Apocalypse still looks set to be their best release in many years, it can’t be ignored how bold it is for the band to take this synth U-turn for The Silver Cord, even if it might be a turn off for some fans. How they’ll incorporate these new songs live alongside the infernal technicality of their other 2023 album is beyond me, but I can’t wait to see it!
Luke Bower
Edited by Natalie Howarth
Image: Theia, The Silver Cord and Set Official Album Cover
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